So, for reasons I’ve never been fully clear on, the Chinese insist on taking (wildly inappropriate) English names when they come stateside, a problem that Mei Li and Ping are avoiding because someone–presumably Sera or Dr. Wolf–convinced them that May Lee and Ping are perfectly functional American names that don’t make either of them stand out strangely. That said, I’ve known girls named Mei Li in real, actual life who used American names like “Coco Butter” and “Agnes.” The former is a stripper pseudonym and the latter is a Grandma name, and neither really fit the bearers of the name well.

So, while I’m not completely clear on why this happens, I do have a fun theory.

I’ve had a lot of different names given to me by my Chinese friends from year to year–from Fat Ox (which didn’t translate offensively in Chinese but sounds awful in English) to, and I’m being dead serious here, “God’s Weapon-Gift” (武天赐). Names in Chinese have meaning, and people often have more than one name that people actually, for serious use. Not just truncations, like Jo from Jody, but full-on names that describe your character. The aforementioned Coco-Butter had a nickname that translated out into “Five Mouths,” for instance. (I absolutely do not have time to explain why I got the exceptionally regal nickname I listed above.) I suspect that this custom makes the choosing of an English name much less of a serious affair for a visiting Chinese student than it would be to me if I had to choose my own Chinese name–especially since there’s apparently a custom of your friends giving you different names.

The comic is late because there was, like, sixteen different ways we could legitimately go with the story. We settled on this, because we think it’ll be the most entertaining route. But also because the comic has been pretty goddamn chaste since it’s inception, and that simply won’t stand. Apparently.

I just want everyone to know that I threw out an entire arc where Mei Li, as a legitimate demon huntress, goes after Todd. It woulda been glorious, but no, Zach’s a giant grump.

]]>http://ramen-empire.com/ramen-empire-en-espanol/sith-un-poco/feed/0CMYK And About to Kick Some Asshttp://ramen-empire.com/strip/cmyk-and-about-to-kick-some-ass/
http://ramen-empire.com/strip/cmyk-and-about-to-kick-some-ass/#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 17:01:34 +0000http://ramen-empire.com/?post_type=webcomic1&p=3043Continue reading CMYK And About to Kick Some Ass]]>

This comic isn’t late at all. Ha ha. Ha. ._.

Cool news – one of my buddies from Venezuela (Okay, the only buddy I have in Venezuela) is going to be translating our story comics into Spanish–Click here and check it out! It’s really fun for me, because I’ve learned a lot about making word bubbles since I started, and I get to kind of reboot the lettering in the Spanish version.

Want to see a high res version of today’s comic? Check it out on Patreon, and then support us for some (hopefully) niftoid perks.

If you don’t want to commit to Patreon, another great way to support Ramen Empire is to buy a short story from me on Amazon. It’s 99c, it’s a good read, and buying it will give me warm fuzzies. Click the cover art!